Abstract This study aims to improve the accuracy of anthropogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) speciation in Korea by developing region-specific chemical speciation profiles based on available Korean data supplemented with datasets from Northeast Asia. Current air quality modeling in Korea often relies on VOC emission profiles that inadequately represent domestic emission characteristics, leading to discrepancies between modeled and observed pollutant concentrations. In 2015, solvent use accounted for approximately 61% of national VOC emissions, while transportation was a major contributor in urbanized regions, together with residential combustion and industrial processes. Due to the limited availability of detailed, source-resolved VOC speciation measurements in Korea, this study combined domestic emission information with chemically resolved VOC composition data from Northeast Asia to address data gaps. These external datasets were not directly adopted but were systematically integrated and adjusted to reflect Korean emission sectors, activity patterns, and regulatory classifications. New source-specific profiles were developed with particular emphasis on solvent use and transportation, the two dominant VOC emission sources in Korea. Compared with the widely used KORea–United States emission inventory (KORUSv1) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SPECIATE profiles, the revised profiles increased aromatic allocations by 20–120% and olefin allocations by 24–40%, while reducing non-reactive VOC fractions by up to 95%. When implemented in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model, these profiles significantly improved model performance. Nationwide correlation coefficients increased from 0.59 to 0.61 for ozone and from 0.40 to 0.60 for PM 2.5 , while the mean PM 2.5 bias was reduced from − 15.4 to + 3.0 μg m⁻ 3 . In the Seoul Metropolitan Area, ozone correlation increased from 0.54 to 0.68 and PM 2.5 from 0.47 to 0.63. These results demonstrate that integrating Korean emission data with Northeast Asian chemical composition information effectively reduces uncertainties in secondary pollutant simulations and provides a stronger scientific basis for air quality management in Korea. Graphical Abstract
Kim et al. (Sat,) studied this question.